art

Packing a visual punch for the environment

To grab people's attention and raise environmental awareness, artists, musicians and activists have turned to more visual ways of getting the message across - including sometimes drastic measures.

Seven provocative environmental statements

Pianist Ludovico Einaudi's Arctic concert

Renowned Italian pianist and composer Ludovico Einaudi, who has written scores for films and television, performed on a floating platform in the Arctic amid icebergs in 2016. Organized with Greenpeace, the concert was a bid to raise awareness of the region under threat from global warming. He gave the debut performance of a piece specially composed for the occasion: "Elegy for the Arctic."

Seven provocative environmental statements

Submerged souls

British sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor’s underwater life-sized human figures adorn seabeds across the world, including the "Museo Atlántico" off the south coast of Lanzarote. They aim to provoke environmental awareness as well as social change - each piece creates an artificial reef that helps promote marine life, and can be visited by scuba divers.

Seven provocative environmental statements

Helping hands for sinking Venice

This temporary artwork showing giant hands emerging from the Grand Canal of Venice to prop up the historic Ca' Sagredo Hotel highlights the existential threat faced by the city and others around the world as ocean levels rise. Titled "Support," sculptor Lorenzo Quinn unveiled it earlier in 2017. It is a call to action to take an active role in slowing global warming.

Seven provocative environmental statements

The wheatfield of Wall Street

Artist Agnes Denes created this work, "Wheatfield - A Confrontation," in 1982, in which she planted a field of wheat on two acres of a landfill near Wall Street and the World Trade Center in Manhattan. She cultivated the field for a few months before harvesting the crop on the outskirts of the urban metropolis - to highlight world hunger and ecological concerns.

Seven provocative environmental statements

Blood on Denmark's Little Mermaid

The most famous statue of the Danish capital of Copenhagen, "The Little Mermaid," has suffered many indignities over the years at the hands of vandals. In May 2017, campaigners protesting against whaling around the Faroe Islands doused it with red paint. Before that, the mermaid has been decapitated twice, had her arm sawn at, and has even been blown up.

Seven provocative environmental statements

Graffiti for climate change

Famous street artist Banksy protested against climate change by spray-painting the words "I don’t believe in global warming" on a wall next to a London canal - with the words partly submerged in the water. The 2009 work by the artist, whose pieces have sold for hundreds of thousands of euros, coincided with a UN climate summit which resulted in a deal many felt inadequate to tackle climate change.

Seven provocative environmental statements

Showing nature's heartbeat

With the artwork "One Beat One Tree," Naziha Mestaoui projected virtual forests onto city spaces, such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. Viewers could connect to the project via a smartphone sensor, letting the digital trees grow in rhythm with a person’s heartbeat. For each virtual plant, a real one is grown - since the project began in 2014, tens of thousands of trees have been planted.

Author: Melanie Hall

Seven provocative environmental statements

Pianist Ludovico Einaudi's Arctic concert

Renowned Italian pianist and composer Ludovico Einaudi, who has written scores for films and television, performed on a floating platform in the Arctic amid icebergs in 2016. Organized with Greenpeace, the concert was a bid to raise awareness of the region under threat from global warming. He gave the debut performance of a piece specially composed for the occasion: "Elegy for the Arctic."

Seven provocative environmental statements

Submerged souls

British sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor’s underwater life-sized human figures adorn seabeds across the world, including the "Museo Atlántico" off the south coast of Lanzarote. They aim to provoke environmental awareness as well as social change - each piece creates an artificial reef that helps promote marine life, and can be visited by scuba divers.

Seven provocative environmental statements

Helping hands for sinking Venice

This temporary artwork showing giant hands emerging from the Grand Canal of Venice to prop up the historic Ca' Sagredo Hotel highlights the existential threat faced by the city and others around the world as ocean levels rise. Titled "Support," sculptor Lorenzo Quinn unveiled it earlier in 2017. It is a call to action to take an active role in slowing global warming.

Seven provocative environmental statements

The wheatfield of Wall Street

Artist Agnes Denes created this work, "Wheatfield - A Confrontation," in 1982, in which she planted a field of wheat on two acres of a landfill near Wall Street and the World Trade Center in Manhattan. She cultivated the field for a few months before harvesting the crop on the outskirts of the urban metropolis - to highlight world hunger and ecological concerns.

Seven provocative environmental statements

Blood on Denmark's Little Mermaid

The most famous statue of the Danish capital of Copenhagen, "The Little Mermaid," has suffered many indignities over the years at the hands of vandals. In May 2017, campaigners protesting against whaling around the Faroe Islands doused it with red paint. Before that, the mermaid has been decapitated twice, had her arm sawn at, and has even been blown up.

Seven provocative environmental statements

Graffiti for climate change

Famous street artist Banksy protested against climate change by spray-painting the words "I don’t believe in global warming" on a wall next to a London canal - with the words partly submerged in the water. The 2009 work by the artist, whose pieces have sold for hundreds of thousands of euros, coincided with a UN climate summit which resulted in a deal many felt inadequate to tackle climate change.

Seven provocative environmental statements

Showing nature's heartbeat

With the artwork "One Beat One Tree," Naziha Mestaoui projected virtual forests onto city spaces, such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. Viewers could connect to the project via a smartphone sensor, letting the digital trees grow in rhythm with a person’s heartbeat. For each virtual plant, a real one is grown - since the project began in 2014, tens of thousands of trees have been planted.

Author: Melanie Hall

With the mantra "a picture paints a thousand words" in mind, these photos show how striking visuals can make a strong statement about environmental topics.

Some have chosen to highlight the many ecological problems facing the planet with some powerful - and in one case, even illegal - gestures.